Two familiar names are back in the news game

By David Barron |
May 4, 2011

Former KIAH anchor Mia Gradney will return to the air Monday as the local newsreader for Eye Opener, a new two-hour morning show produced by Tribune Co. that will make its debut in Houston.

Eye Opener will be taped and produced overnight in Chicago and will air in Houston 6-8 a.m., with Gradney providing live local headlines, weather and traffic segments four times per hour, said Channel 39 general manager Roger Bare.

Maggie Flecknoe, who contributes to the station's website and its NewsFix newscasts, also will contribute to Eye Opener, which will feature about 12 minutes per hour of local content.

Bare said Eye Opener represents an "efficient way" for Channel 39 to enter the increasingly competitive morning news market. The station currently airs paid programming and children's shows in the morning slot.

Executive producer Ray Brune said Eye Opener eventually will air on other Tribune stations that do not have local morning news shows and will be syndicated to non-Tribune stations in other markets.

"It's a personality-driven show," Brune said. "People now are using morning news like radio. They're listening rather than watching, so the soundtrack to a show is as important as the video."

Gradney was lead anchor for Channel 39's local newscasts that were replaced this spring by NewsFix, another Tribune pilot project using Houston as its test market. Bare said the 9 p.m. NewsFix is pulling 80 percent of the traditional newscast's audience during February and appears to be gaining traction with 18-34 viewers at 5 p.m.

Brune is a former executive producer of ABC's World News Now and Good Morning America weekend and also helped launch the TVG horse racing channel.

Gite returning

Veteran Houston journalist Lloyd Gite will return to the air this weekend with a new television show on KTBU (Channel 55) and a weekly radio show on KCOH (1430 AM).

Both shows will be titled Straight Talk With Lloyd Gite. The TV show will air at 6 a.m. Saturday and the radio show at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"I don't think anybody in this market is doing much intelligent talk on television," Gite said. "I've been very dissatisfied with the lack of quality programming, so, if I'm dissatisfied, why not do something about it rather than sit on my butt? And that's how (the shows) happened."

Gite said he has taped 12 of the 13 TV shows, which will feature interviews with Jesse Jackson, George Foreman, Zina Garrison and others. He is buying the time from both outlets and has a salesman working on selling advertising to support the programs.

"We're calling on people that I've know through my time on television, and they're offering their support," he said. "I'm trying to promote this season and getting ready for the next one."

Gite hopes to sell the TV show internationally and is working with a collaborator on a Straight Talk website.

Gite worked for KRIV (Channel 26) for 18 years through 2001, when his contract was not renewed. He also had a short-lived talk show on KTSU (90.9 FM). He owns Gite Gallery, which specializes in African art, furniture and other items.